05 April 2007
Fifteen UK sailors and marines have been set free by the Iranian regime after almost two weeks in custody. The 15 were interviewed on Iranian state television after their release, apologizing for an alleged incursion into Iran's waters and thanking president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for their freedom. Ahmadinejad's surprise announcement of the release came at a press conference shortly after he decorated Iranian Revolutionary Guard officers who had intercepted the sailors and marines. "On the occasion of the birthday of the great prophet... and for the occasion of the passing of Christ, I say the Islamic Republic government and the Iranian people – with all powers and legal right to put the soldiers on trial – has forgiven those 15," he said, adding that, "This pardon is a gift to the British people."
The UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, welcomed Iran's decision to release the soldiers and said that London's measured response to the crisis had been effective. During a brief statement, Blair thanked allies in Europe, the UN Security Council and the Middle East for their help in securing freedom for the navy personnel. "Throughout we have taken a measured approach, firm but calm, not negotiating but not confronting either," Blair said, adding that the release of the crew would "come as a relief not just to them but to their families that have endured such stress and anxiety." Blair directly addressed the Iranian people, saying that Britain respected and admired the country's "ancient civilization" and its "proud and dignified history."
Meanwhile, Cuban leader Fidel Castro has warned of a possible US invasion of Iran. The US war in Iraq, which had caused an "unending and hateful civil war," was the step prior to a military campaign against Iran, Castro wrote in an article entitled "Thoughts of the Commander in Chief" and release by the Cuban International Press Center. The British soldiers trespassing into Iranian waters had been a provocation, Castro argued, warning that the worst was yet to come: a new war to ensure oil and gas supplies, which would throw the human race into the abyss of a "total holocaust". The ailing Cuban leader said that the United States had the military power to destroy Iran but could not control the consequences of a conflict against another Muslim nation.
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